1. Field of the Invention
The present novel invention relates generally to the field of food and beverage containers and to processes for manufacturing such containers with cryogenic high pressure refrigerant cooling apparatus. More specifically the present invention relates to a self-cooling beverage container apparatus containing a beverage or other food product, a method of storing cryogenic gases which then cool said food products, and to methods of assembling and operating the apparatus. The terms “beverage,” “food,” “food products” and “container contents” are considered as equivalent for the purposes of this application and used interchangeably. The term “container” refers to any storage means for a beverage or food product.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have previously been invented many self-cooling apparatus for cooling the contents of a beverage or food container. These apparatus sometimes use flexible and deformable receptacles or rigid receptacle walls to store a refrigerant. The present inventor has invented a variety of such devices and methods of manufacturing these containers. These earlier inventions do not satisfy all the needs of the beverage industry and they do not use cryogenic refrigerants. In fact they are so structurally different from the present invention, that one skilled in the art cannot possibly transcend from the prior art to the present invention, without an inventive process. In an effort to seek a cost effective and functioning apparatus to self-cool a beverage container, the present inventor has done a variety of experiments to arrive at the present novel method. The prior art fails to address the real issues of manufacturing and beverage plant operations that are crucial for the success of a self-cooling beverage container program. All prior art designs fail to show how to incorporate high pressure gases and effectively release them without danger. The problem stems from the extreme high pressure of the suitable cryogenic gases such as carbon dioxide or CO2. Many trials and designs have been done to obtain the present configuration of the disclosed receptacle of this invention. No prior art teaches how to manufacture a self-cooling beverage plastic bottle as a simple integrated and manufacturable unit that will conform to the standards of the beverage industry.
For example prior art teaches how to make high pressure containers made from steel or small diameter tubing. Since such receptacles are generally made from thick-walled metallic materials for containing high pressure, rapid heat transfer is limited and almost impossible. Even with prior designs of co-seamed internal receptacles such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,300 to the present inventor the problem was still not solved. Also, the high speed beverage plants require high speed compatible operations for manufacture of an online self-cooling beverage container. For example, prior art designs do not address easy insertion, self-aligning of the receptacle with the container and so on, particularly when the container is a plastic bottle. Further, most prior art relies on a separate un-integrated manufacturing process for the attachment of the receptacle to the container. The prior art differs from the current disclosed invention in that they all require complicated valving for activation of the cooling process. Most use complicated gaskets and expensive attachment means. The present invention does not require a special valving system. Just a few parts that form the receptacle and the attachment means to the bottle suffice to form a self-acting valve based on the opening of the container for consumption.
This invention is an improvement over prior art and discloses a novel technology for bottles and cans (metal containers) also with the additional aspect of using cryogenic propellant mixtures such as carbon dioxide. The reason for the improvement is that no other technology addresses the high pressure container costs associated with the manufacture of metal containers.